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1 January

Integrity in Leadership

The spirit of an organization is created from the top.

The proof of the sincerity and seriousness of a management is uncompromisingemphasis on integrity of character. This, above all, has to besymbolized in management's "people" decisions. For it is characterthrough which leadership is exercised; it is character that sets the exampleand is imitated. Character is not something one can fool people about. Thepeople with whom a person works, and especially subordinates, know in afew weeks whether he or she has integrity or not. They may forgive a personfor a great deal: incompetence, ignorance, insecurity, or bad manners. Butthey will not forgive a lack of integrity in that person. Nor will they forgivehigher management for choosing him.

This is particularly true of the people at the head of an enterprise. Forthe spirit of an organization is created from the top. If an organization isgreat in spirit, it is because the spirit of its top people is great. If it decays, itdoes so because the top rots; as the proverb has it, "Trees die from the top."No one should ever be appointed to a senior position unless top managementis willing to have his or her character serve as the model for subordinates.

Action Point: Evaluate the character of the CEO and top management when considering a job offer. Align yourself with people who have integrity.

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Excerpted from The Daily Drucker: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done by Peter F. Drucker, Joseph A. Maciariello
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.